Shopaholic

When it comes to grocery shopping, I've got it down to a science. I make a list every week. I label items according to where I find them in the store. On the reverse side of my list is a menu of what we will be eating that week.

It is a pretty tight system. It eliminates many impulse buys and several extra trips to the store. My kids have always been very good about accepting the answer, "Sorry, it isn't on the list...maybe we can get it next week."

This week was the first week that I went shopping by myself because Pearl was in school. (Of course, I have been shopping by myself before, but not with so many eminent lonely shopping trips ahead of me.) What will I do without a shopping buddy? I took this picture the week of Halloween. Pearl was getting really comfortable in the cart.

My first lonely trip was made more exciting by the fact that I forgot to bring a correct form of payment and therefore had to drive back home to retrieve payment and return to the store. (I was actually thankful that Pearl wasn't dragged along on that extra trip. She is patient, but that could be stretching the limit.)

I guess I will need to get used to shopping without added commentary and occasional requests and random songs. Oh man, what a bore.